


Perseids

by JannaEnd



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempt at Humor, Eren and his philosophical thoughts, Fluff, Levi is a bit ooc (I think), M/M, POV Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-16 20:09:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4638600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JannaEnd/pseuds/JannaEnd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Everyone – or at least the majority of people – has one or more hobbies. Mine are collecting tea leaves and cups, and astronomy.  You see, I’m just an ordinary accountant, a single man in his late twenties living his grey life with full of numbers and other people’s problems. That’s why the universe amazes me so much."</p>
<p>Levi goes out to watch the annual meteor shower, the Perseids. What he isn't prepared for is that his neighbour (and crush) Eren decides to join in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perseids

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this is the longest fic I have ever written. I didn't really know when to end it. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it :)
> 
> I'm sorry for the mistakes, let me know if you find any, so I can fix them.

Everyone – or at least the majority of people – has one or more hobbies. Mine are collecting tea leaves and cups, and astronomy.  You see, I’m just an ordinary accountant, a single man in his late twenties living his grey life with full of numbers and other people’s problems. That’s why the universe amazes me so much. It’s full of miracles, surprises, questions and things we don’t understand or even know. It’s bigger than we could imagine and it seems we have it all for ourselves. This makes me feel incredibly special and awfully lonely at the same time.

I’m not an expert of the field of course. I hardly understand the physics behind the movements of the universe, and I don’t think I could name more than five stars or constellations on the night sky. But this fact doesn’t lessen my enthusiasm. The greatest moments are when I can sit out on my terrace with a cup of tea in hand and my cat in my lap, and stare up at the endless, dark sky. Light pollution sucks though, so if I want to see and not just look, I have to go out of town. Just like tonight.

The Perseids meteor shower is something I watch every year, even if I have to deal with terrible tiredness next day. But luckily in this year the peak of activity falls on a Friday evening so everything is perfect. Actually not everything, because no one joins in. Hange has night duty in the hospital, Erwin and Mike made plans earlier, and… yeah, that’s the end of my friend’s list. Whatever, as long as there is a sky full of stars above me I can enjoy myself.

I fill a thermos-bottle with tea, grab a blanket, my phone and keys, head out of my apartment and step into the lift. I’m not very fond of the narrow metal box, because there’s no air in it and who knows what people did with their hands before they pushed the buttons. But the stairway isn’t better, and I live on the 8th floor, so there’s nothing to do about it.

It’s already half past eight, so when the lift stops, I’m surprised there’s someone else going out too. I’m more than surprised when this someone turns out to be Eren Jaeger.

Let me tell you about him.

He lives in the apartment under mine with one of his friends, and still attends to university. I don’t think he’s older than 25. God blessed – or cursed – him with a fierce and headstrong personality, loud voice and big heart. And he’s hot. I mean, he wears these sweatpants and worn-out t-shirt, his chocolate-brown hair is a mess, he’s in the middle of a yawn and yet he still looks like a demi god. When he notices my presence he smiles at me, his sea-green eyes spark, and I’m ready to sell my soul.

“Hello.”

I won’t talk about his velvet-like voice, no one could take that gush, believe me. All in all, I just want to say, that when I thought I’m done with crushing, God said “Fuck you Ackerman!”, and Eren walked into my life.

“Hey” I mumble back. That’s it, let’s pretend I’m a functioning part of human society. We stand next to each other in silence, which is pretty uncomfortable in my opinion. If I remember well, 6 person can fit into this lift. Now why is it that only the two of us is inside and I still think it’s too crowded here? After a side glance I get to know we’re only on the 3rd floor. This hell of a machine couldn’t be slower, could it?

“So, where are you going?” asks Eren out of the blue. “If you don’t mind me asking” he adds.

“Ah, I… just watching these… shooting stars” the tip of my ears turn red, and for some reason I feel ashamed. A grown ass man staring at the stars like some teen girl, yeah, that’s me. I don’t think I ever had a chance with Eren, but if I did, I just lost it.

“Oh, yeah I heard about it. Armin, my flatmate you know, likes these things, but he’s at his grandfather this week. Maybe they’re going to watch it though.”

I feel relieved he doesn’t think I’m a fucking creep as we step out of the lift and walk towards the exit.

“Do you go with that noisy friend of yours?”

I look at him questioningly.

“Uh, you know…” he scratches the back of his neck “that brown-haired woman with glasses… She always talks loudly and smiles like a maniac… It’s not that I’m judging her, she’s surely nice, and-”

“No, Hange really is a maniac” I interrupt him before he becomes too embarrassed, even if he is cute like this. “And I don’t go with them. Unfortunately they have to work.”

“They?” Eren sounds surprised. I’m so used to Hange’s pronouns that I don’t understand why he asked back at first.

“They” I don’t feel like giving a lecture about it.

“Okay” he shrugs. “Then who do you go with?”

We step out of the building and I look at everything on the street but him as I reply: “I go alone.”

A couple of seconds pass quietly. I know Eren watches me.

“That’s sad” he says.

I turn around to face him and knit my eyebrows in confusion. He doesn’t avoid eye-contact while he continues to speak.

“I mean, it’s something that isn’t so enjoyable if you don’t share it with someone. Then you can’t make a contest of who notices more shooting stars, cheer loudly if you see one, or talk about deep philosophical shit when nothing happens. You just lie in the dark and bore yourself to death. It’s not too appealing.”

He sounds so honest, and I can’t help but think how pathetic I am. I drop my gaze to the ground and fiddle the hem of my blanket which is pressed against my chest.

“Ah, sorry, that was a bit harsh” he lets out an awkward laugh. “It’s not like I’m anything better. It’s Friday night, and I’m going to the Chinese restaurant then come back home and probably watch a boring film. Alone of course.”

We stand there like the two idiots we are and wait for the other to do something. To be honest I could just say goodbye and go, but I don’t want to. I want to be with Eren even if it’s totally awkward and listen to his rambling. The Perseids come every year after all, if I miss it once…

“Hey,” Eren’s face lights up “if you wait a bit, I grab some take-away from the restaurant, and we can go watch the stars together.”

_Data processing, please wait… The system detected an error, it stops now. Please try again later._

“Levi?” Shit, I spaced out too long. “That was just an idea. If you don’t want to-”

“No” I say a bit faster and louder than I should. “I mean I don’t mind going together with you, it’s just… it’s not that exciting, you may find it boring” _and I don’t want you to be bored while we’re together._

“I didn’t plan an exciting night anyway” Eren smiles at me gently.

“Okay then” I nod.

“Okay.”

“I’ll wait here” I say because seconds pass and Eren doesn’t move an inch towards the little Chinese restaurant on the corner.

“Ah, right! I’ll be back in a minute.”

Just after he disappears behind the door of the restaurant I am able to tear my eyes away from his direction. So this is really happening, huh? I haven’t been this nervous since Hange “accidentally” deleted all the data of my computer two years ago… This situation is much worse though. Luckily I can control my facial expressions very well, otherwise I would look like a desperate blushing mess. My heart is another story. It beats so loud and fast I automatically press my blanket tighter against my chest, as if it could help anything. I don’t want to fuck this up, but I don’t have any social skills and under the grey surface a pretty shitty personality hides. Such a lively and colourful person as Eren would never see anything attractive in me, but I dare to hope that we can be something like friends or good acquaintances.

I don’t notice he’s back until he practically shoves a plastic bag into my face.

“I’m ready to go.”

We get into my car, Eren compliments the cleanliness, and then I drive out of the town. The traffic isn’t heavy and the most people who are on the roads go to the opposite direction. Slowly I calm down as I get used to Eren’s presence. We don’t talk much, but it’s not that I-don’t-know-what-to-say-and-desperately-try-to-find-a-topic kind of situation. The air is filled with the quiet hum of the radio and the faint smell of Chinese food. It’s… not bad, I have to say.

It’s about thirty minutes until we reach the place where I usually go to observe the sky. Just a little meadow with some trees here and there, that lies quite far from the main road. And the biggest advance: no street-lights, which means no light pollution. I stop the car and about to get out, when I hear a chuckle.

“If you’re going to rape and kill me, I have to admit, you chose the place perfectly.”

For a while I just stare at his cheeky grinning face with a stoic expression then I turn forward and let out a sigh.

“No, I didn’t.”

“You didn’t?”

“Yeah” I gesture towards the darkness on the other side of the windscreen. “We just arrived, and you already know my plans, which I didn’t want.”

“Oh, don’t blame yourself” he pats my shoulder and I feel the warmth of his hand through the fabric of my t-shirt. “I’m a clever man, you know.”

I just snort at this, and once again try to exit the car, but the clever man’s voice stops me again.

“Levi?”

“Hm?”

“You aren’t going to rape and kill me, are you?”

“No” I say and finally push open the door. “First I’ll kill you, and then rape your death body” I add. Before I could ponder over how I just ruined our night Eren erupts in beautiful, happy laughter.

“That’s what I wanted to hear, now I’m relieved.”

I allow myself a half-smile too. We grab the food, the thermos-bottle, the blanket and a flashlight from the backseat, and go looking for a good place to settle down.

“And what if…” Eren begins as we lay down the blanket “What if _I_ planned some nasty things?”

For a moment my imagination goes wild, but loudly I only say with a shrug: “It depends on what you mean by ‘nasty’.”

After that I check the time on my phone and drink some tea. Eren eats some of his noodles and chicken with a white plastic fork, which he didn’t miss to curse because it’s useless. Then we lie down and look up at the sky.

I can’t stop the deep sigh that leaves my mouth as I take in the sight. Nothing, but the dark blue canvas is above us, filled with yellowish-white, shining flecks. It’s the good kind of dizzying. I get lost in my memories. Lying here and not listening to Hange’s rambling, getting drenched when a sudden downpour came, slipping from the dorm with Erwin, sitting on the roof of a ruinous house with Farlan and Isabell… The sky means these and a lot more to me. It’s rare for me to feel like this, but now I am truly happy.

“It’s amazing” whispers Eren. I turn my head in his direction, but I only see a dark silhouette. “You know, that you can’t reach the stars, but they’re so beautiful that you still want to try. You’d like to extend your hand, but you’re afraid of the disappointment, because what if you really can’t touch them? What if there’s really something you can’t get, doesn’t matter how badly you want it?”

_Ironic that you’re the one who says this._ Eren doesn’t seem to continue his monologue. I wait a little until the lump in my throat disappears.

“So that’s the ‘deep philosophical shit’ you’ve been talking about?”

“I think so” I hear him smiling. “Was it too much?”

“No. I just asked.”

We fall in silence again, only making some noise when we see a shooting star. As time passes there are more and more of them. The air becomes a bit colder, but it’s fine. If I remember well, there’s a sweatshirt in the trunk of my car, but I don’t need it yet.

“You’re a pretty quiet person, aren’t you?” Eren says.

“Uh, sorry, I tend to-” I began but he stops me quickly.

“No, no, it wasn’t a complaint. I just noticed… You know when we, Armin and I, moved into our apartment, we thought nobody lives above us. We always heard the other neighbours, but never a sound from above… Then one day there was the noise of something breaking, maybe a cup, I don’t know. We were scared like hell…” he laughs at the memory. “After that of course we heard other sounds too, mostly your friend - Hange, you said? ... If I hadn’t seen you with them, and hadn’t recognized their voice, I would’ve never guessed you live in that apartment.”

“Well, I’m sorry for having creepy friends. Sorry for being a creepy neighbour in general.”

“Nah, you aren’t that creepy. I find it good, being under you.”

“Really?” I ask back innocently.

“Yeah.”

“And exactly when were you ‘under me’?” I ask not so innocently. A few seconds pass.

“I didn’t mean it like that! Oh my god, you’re so perverted!” Eren sounds embarrassed, but there’s a smile in his voice too. I would sell my organs to see his face properly.

“Sorry, that was irresistible.”

He just groans in response. Suddenly I become pretty aware of the beating of my heart. _Truly happy_. Yes, I am ridiculously glad that this brat lies next to me right now and has a good time. I’m happy, even if our relationship goes only this far. It’ll be another great memory I’ll remember, when I look up at the sky.

“Look!” Eren points at a shooting star. “Do you make a wish, when you see one?” he asks after it disappeared.

“No, not really” I shook my head.

“Why?”

“I don’t want to be disappointed, if my wishes don’t come true. And let’s be honest, there’s no guarantee they come true.”

Eren hums.

“You make wishes, don’t you?”

“Yeah” he chuckles. “I always wish for the same thing.”

“And what is it?” I ask curiously.

“If I tell you, it won’t-”

“It won’t come true” I finish the sentence.

“Is it childish?”

“It’s adorable” the words are out of my mouth before I realize what I say. Oh well, it doesn’t matter now. We fall in silence. I hear Eren moving then the screen of his phone lights up in front of his face. He shuts his eyes and swears. I can’t help but laugh at him, so I receive a “deathly” glare. Eh, beginner. After checking the time Eren puts the phone back to his pocket, and let the darkness embrace us again.

“Eren?” I break the silence about ten minutes later, without knowing how I want to say what’s on my mind.

“Yeah?”

“So… I just… Well, I just wanted to say thank you. For being here with me, I mean… You know, it… It means a lot to me… so yeah… Thank you” I manage to falter out. He doesn’t answer, but it’s okay, I didn’t waited for a reply anyway. I just wanted him to know that I appreciate his presence. So maybe… maybe things like this will happen again. It would be nice. Little colourful islands in the big grey mess, that’s my life.

I close my eyes and sigh, like a weight would have been lifted from my chest. I hear Eren moving again, maybe he’s doing something with his phone like earlier. Does he feel embarrassed because of the things I said? Even if he does, there’s nothing I could do now. I sense something next to my head. Maybe he sat up, and leans on his hand. But why so close? Oh yes, he can’t see me properly because of the darkness, so it’s not like he knows he almost put his hand on my face. Ah, the air is pretty cold, I may go and grab my sweater. A bit later though, because I’m lying comfortable right now. Everything is fin-

I feel a hot breath on my face.

My eyes fly open but before I could make a sound Eren’s soft lips are pressed against the corner of my mouth. I don’t stir, I don’t even breathe, because my brain is working on answering the great question: what the fuck is happening? Is he kissing me? ... Well, trying to kiss me. Fuck the darkness! Holy shit, if I’m dreaming now, I’ll be very pissed when I wake up. I want to reach out and touch Eren, but in the moment I move he pulls back.

“Shit!” he mutters as he sits up, and I do the same.

“I take it as a compliment.”

“No, I… It wasn’t… I mean…” Eren turns into a total mess as he tries to explain… I don’t even know what. He takes a deep breath. “Sorry Levi. I shouldn’t have done it. I thought… Shit, I don’t know… I don’t know… I’m sorry.”

I just stare at his dark silhouette in the deafening silence. He thought what? That he means a lot to me _that way_? But that’s true. Or he thought something else? It doesn’t matter, to be honest. He kissed me. He likes me. He has to, doesn’t he?

I crawl closer to him and put my arms around his torso. The warmth radiating from his body feels good against my cold skin. I lift up my hand to caress his face, our noses touch, and I wish I could see something else than black.

“Levi?” his breath tickles my mouth. “What are you-?”

“I’m cold” I whisper before our lips meet the others. The kiss is sweet and slow at the beginning, then it grows more and more passionate. Eren wraps his arms around me, his fingers dancing along my spine, which makes me shiver. He moans into my mouth as I thread my fingers in his brown locks and massage his scalp. There’s nothing else in this world, just Eren, Eren, Eren, his scent filling my nose, his smooth skin under my touch, his tongue exploring my mouth, and I’m lost in his tight embrace. The next time my brain is willing to operate properly I’m lying on my back again. Eren is on top of me and puts little pecks all over my face and neck.

“You know” he murmurs between kissing my jaw and ear, “I’ve been watching you for a while.”

“Really?” I’m out of breath for some reason, but I don’t mind it. “I never noticed it… although I’ve been watching you too.”

“Then we’re two blind idiots” he presses his forehead against mine.

“Eren?”

“Hm?”

I can’t fight back a smirk.

“I like being under you too.”

He laughs and buries his face in the crook of my neck. We lie like this and fool around, shooting stars long forgotten. He discovers my sides are ticklish and takes full advantage of it until I get to know his week spot is his nape. However, the temperatures are falling, and after a while I can’t hide my shudders, so Eren suggests going home.

The ride back to the town is quiet, just like when we came, but happier and – in my opinion – quicker. In one moment I’m still driving, in the next we’re already walking towards our apartment building, hand in hand. As we wait for the lift I feel more excited and awake than ever in my life, despite it’s around 4 am. My heart beats loudly, my hands tremble, but Eren doesn’t seem to notice it, or he’s just tactful enough not to comment. I stumble a little when he gently pulls me into the lift that arrived while I was spacing out. Okay Ackermann, you just achieved a new level of awkwardness, please control yourself. I let out a little sigh. Eren pushes the button 7, then after a little hesitation button 8 too and glances at me. Suddenly I find my shoes pretty interesting, so I stare at them instead of the Greek god next to me. It’s alright. It’s not like I planned spending the night with him. No, it’s the exact opposite, I feel relieved, because it means he wants more than a quick fuck, an adventurous night. Right?

We’re on the 5th floor, when he steps closer to kiss me. Now I can see his sparking eyes and the light blush on his face as he leans closer, and god, he’s beautiful. I lose my sense of time again, it feels like an eternity until we reach the 7th floor, but hey, it was only a second ago that our lips touched. The lift stops and signals the arrival with an annoying _ding_ sound.

“See you later?” Eren whispers against my mouth as the door opens.

“M-hm” I nod. He presses a kiss on my forehead and ear.

“Good night, Levi.”

“Good night…”

He steps out of the machine and smiles at me until the door closes and hides us from each other. I take a little step back and lean against the wall of the lift without thinking of the filth. Nothing could stop the stupid grin that appears on my face.

The next morning – wait, it’s practically the same day – isn’t so blissful. I’m tired as hell, and just sit on my couch in boxer briefs and an old tank top and caress the cat in my lap. Did I have a weird dream? Was I high on something? I had lunch with Hange after all… Or did it really happen? Eren Jaeger and I… What? … I groan and take a sip from my green tea. It’s the third cup in one hour. Maybe I should have breakfast. Yeah, that will help. So the decision is born in my head, but my body doesn’t follow the order, I don’t move an inch. Because I don’t want to disturb this sweet purring fur-ball which is my cat.

I’m in this state of nihil, when the doorbell signals. The feline is already running towards the entrance as I stand up. Erwin spoils her by bringing delicious cat-snacks, so she’s always excited when someone comes. I wonder who it is, on Saturday at 10 pm. Probably Hange. No, wait, they had night duty, so they’re still sleeping. Erwin or Mike would’ve called. I curiously look into the peephole and have a mini heart attack. After gently pushing away the cat from the way I practically tear open the door.

“Hello.”

“Hey” Eren blinds me with a 100 watt smile. “Did I wake you up?” he asks after checking me out, and I realize how underdressed I am. Oh well.

“No… Not at all. I’ve been awake for… an hour now, or so.” The cat sneaks past my feet to rub herself against Eren. He crouches down to stroke her fur.

“It’s yours?”

“Yeah” I watch them for a while. “Uh, do you… Would you like to come in?” I ask poking towards the inside of my apartment.

“No.”

“Oh” that hurt.

“Ah, no, I mean…” Eren stands up, picking up my cat in the process “First of all, I’d like to say sorry for bothering. I don’t have your number, so I couldn’t inform you. If you gave it to me, it would be nice…” he smiles at me sheepishly then continues to talk. “Anyway I just wanted to ask if you feel like having breakfast with me somewhere… If you don’t, then yes, I’d like to come in.”

He speaks fast, so I need a few seconds to understand what he said.

“Come in” I say slowly. “I get dressed and give you my number. Then we can go and eat something.”

“Okay.” I swear he’s the embodiment of happiness as he walks in. While he steps out of his shoes I close the door.

“Uh, so…” I begin and turn towards him, but don’t look in his eyes. “So we are… so… are we… you know…”

He seems to be confused at first, but after that he laughs and leans down to press me against the door and kiss me.

“Yes, we are” he whispers when we part for a breath. “You should make a wish, when you see a shooting star. Mine came true.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm eager to know your opinion!! :)


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